'A new angel': Young TCC student, Fort Braden School custodian dies after COVID-19 battle

Jordan Byrd, a standout former Godby student and a youth leader in the Primitive Baptist Church, beamed about the perfect 4.0 grade point average he just earned at Tallahassee Community College.

“Finished Spring 2020 semester with all A’s!!,” he wrote in a May 5 post on Facebook. “Praise God!!”

He was working his way through college as a custodian at Fort Braden School, where he once attended, and looking forward to a bright future ahead. A couple weeks later, the young man, who records say was 19, officially made the President's List at TCC.

But after going to the hospital some days ago, he lost his battle with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Condolences poured in on his Facebook page from his many family members, friends and teachers. Christopher Small, former principal of Raa Middle School, said his heart was broken by the news.

“Jordan Byrd was a young man of faith and dedicated himself to uplifting those around him,” he said. “Heaven has gained a new angel.”

His death raised renewed reservations about the reopening of the district, which is still planned to happen in some form next month.

"The entire Leon County school family is mourning right now over the death of what appears to be one of our employees," Superintendent Rocky Hanna said. "And I think over the course of the next week, I along with members of the Leon County School Board and our reopening task force may be forced to make some tough decisions about the reopening of our schools in August."

The back story:

• Many Leon County Schools teachers terrified to return to classrooms in August
• Coronavirus: Leon County Schools moves to block scheduling for middle, high schools
• Leon County 'full steam ahead' following state's emergency order on school reopenings

Byrd is at least the third person linked to Fort Braden School to have contracted COVID-19 in recent weeks, though he is the first known fatality.

On July 9, Jimbo Jackson, principal of the K-8 school and a Leon County commissioner, acknowledged that he and his wife, Beth Jackson, principal of Hawks Rise Elementary School, tested positive for the disease.

Jackson did not return a phone call from the Tallahassee Democrat. However, sources who asked to remain anonymous said Jackson confirmed the COVID-related death Sunday during a video conference with Fort Braden teachers and staff.

Some staff members have known for days that Byrd had been hospitalized with the illness. They also were told that several other staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. The district last week conducted a deep cleaning of the school.

The Fort Braden School cases come as the district and parents grapple with the new school year and all the fears brought by the pandemic. They overlap with a spike in cases in Leon County and Florida and a push to reopen schools by Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump.

Special section: Opinions from teachers on returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic

Last week, more than 100 teachers expressed deep doubts about reopening schools in person as part of a School Board discussion. One teacher spoke out about Byrd's death on Facebook.

“Our school family is devastated,” she wrote, “and this occurred with no teachers, paraprofessionals nor students on campus. If this disease spread in the school where masks were required, social distancing and other safety measures were in place, imagine what it will look like when kids are arriving on buses, sitting in classrooms, walking the crowded halls and eating lunch with no masks.”

Hanna acknowledged the death heightened concerns about the physical reopening of schools.

“We left school on March 13 when there were no local cases of the virus and no deaths," he said. "And now we are being asked to return when we have many cases and even deaths at the local level. And that is very concerning to me.”

'A great friend’

Byrd attended Fort Braden School during his elementary and middle school years, his classmates said. His mom used to work at the school as a paraprofessional, said Jake Dickens, who met Byrd in the third grade, and others.

“He was really smart and friendly,” said Dickens, who kept up with his friend on Facebook. “His grades were really good, so good it made me jealous in middle school. I’d see him accomplish a lot of great things, and it made me admire having grown up with him.”

While at Godby, he was a member of the National Honor Society, the Junior ROTC and the student government association. As an upperclassman, he was named Mr. Amos P. Godby.

He was president of Tallahassee Kappa League and a member of the Black Male Achievers program at TCC

Solazia Billington became close friends with Byrd through their leadership roles in Primitive Baptist Church youth organizations and conventions. Byrd held vice president posts in the Middle Florida Georgia church organization.

“Jordan Byrd was an amazing vice president, and a praying young man,” she said in a Facebook post. “He was a great friend and always found a way to be there whenever he could be.”

Kesha Baker-Harris, whose kids went to school with Byrd, called him a "sweet boy." She felt like he was one of her own.

"Our Fort Braden family had another flower plucked from our gorgeous garden," she wrote. "When I received the news I really didn’t know how to react, but today I’m trying to hold it all together. Our boys are saddened by the passing of their friend Jordan."

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

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